The Dublin Port Company has announced a marginal increase in operating profit of 3% to €13.8m for the year ending in 2002, up from €13.4m in 2001. Turnover for the year was €51.9m on throughput of over 22 million tonnes, an increase of 300,000 tonnes, or 1.4%, on 2001.
Roll On Roll Off traffic continues to be the main performer for the port, accounting for nearly 58% of total tonnage. Last year nearly 550,000 Ro Ro vehicles were handled, an increase of nearly 3.5% on 2001. Container numbers grew by almost 5%, up to 456,000 TEUs for the year. Over 1.4 million passengers, and 320,000 tourist cars used the port, up 2% and 10% respectively.
Overall volume passing through the port continues to grow year on year, but not at the levels seen in the late 1990s. While throughput for 2002 rose by 1.4%, average increase in the previous three years was 5.8%, reflecting the slowdown in the domestic and global economies during 2002.
The Dublin Port Company is a limited company owned by the state. It currently employs 292 people.
